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as may be deemed best for market. These frames are so placed'as to give spaces of five! dei Weeze-M @wit I o l E GARRET J. FLANSBURGH, OF BETHLEHEM, NEW YORK.

Letters Patent No. 86,913, dated Feb/mamy 16, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT In BEE-Burns.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of same.

To all whom it ma/y conce/m Be Ait known that I, GARRET J: FLANSBURGH, of

the town of Bethlehem, county of Albany, State of N ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surplus-Honey Chambers and their adjnncts, whereby the bees are compelled to make them of such size, form, and quantities in the tablehoney frames, as the bee-keeper may beforehand determine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of table-honey frames in their holders, with covers removed.

Figure 2 is a lateral-cross-section of same, -with cov-A ers and false bottoms.

Figure 3 represents 'a prohibiting-block, or .false ame. Figure 4 represents some of the many forms of table-honey frames that may be used.

The nature of my invention consists of constructing a`table-honey-frame lholder with two or more apartments, separated bysolid partitions. The two sides of this frame-holder, running at right angles with the partitions, are made of wood, and are solid, and the two sides running parallel with the said partitions, are constructed of wood and glass. The wood part is up permost, andl has cut in its inner side a rabbet, about .one-half inch deep from its top edge, and about oneqnarter inch wide. The partitions are provided with cleats on each of their sides, placed about Aone-half inch below their top edges;

From theserabbets and cleats dependthe table-honey frames, which may be so constructed as to give any desirable fonn to the comb to be made, and of such size sixteenths of an inch between, which spaces give ample room for the bees to work in, for sealing their combs.

Each apartment has a false bottom, which may be removed at will, and ,when any apartment has its bottom removed,`the bees can have access to such apartment, to labor in it, to the exclusion of theothers, and if it.be desired to confine the work of the bees to one or two frames of any one apartment, the other flames have substituted for them, false or solid ones.

Over each apartment is placed a cover of wood or These covers rest on the upper edges of the frame-holder and partitions, and when ,thus placed, afford spaces between the bottom of the said covers and the tops of the frames.

The bees working in any apartment, have free ace' cess from the body of thehive below, to the frames above, through the many spaces which bound all sides of the several frames, and can travel readily, from one frame to another, 'to the comb or combs in process of construction. A

The glass sides give permission for watching the filling of the frames:

To enable others skilled in the 'art to make and use this invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation, by the accompanying drawings, the same letters indicating like parts.

A, figs. l and 2, represents a section of the main body of a hive, in which the bees winter store of honeyy is made, and on which is placed the table-honey-frame holder B,

This frame-holder may be made square o1' oblong, and is constructed with two solid sides, a a, fig. 1.

The other two sides are formed of the narrow wood pieces a a', and the glass b b.

Ihe wood pieces a a are'about one and one-half inch wide, and have rabbets e e cut in their upper edges, about one-half inch deep, and one-quarter inch wide.

The pieces a a' have also grooves cut in their lower edges, to receive the glasses b b.

This frame-holder is divided 4into two or more apartments by partition d, which runs from one solid end a y to the other solid end a.

About oneehalf inch from the top edge are placed and fastened the two cleats c e, one on each side.

The top edge of these cleats c and the rabbets c of the wood pieces a a', form the supports from which the table-honey frames g g g depend.

The said table-honey frames g may vary from one and one-half inch to two inches wide, more or less, andare best made from pine wood, and the inner spaces may be of any desirable form, as g gl g2, fig. 4, and are made smaller than the apartments, so that spaces will be left between the sides of apartments and the frames.

l The top sides of the frames project over the two sides, at right angles to them, and rest in the rabbets e, and on the cleats c, thus suspending themselves.

When placed in the frame-holder, the frames g g are placed so as to leave the spaces o o o, between them, about five-sixteenths of an inch wide.

Each apartment is vprovided with a cover, m., of Wood or glass, which rests on the upper edges of the framel holder B and the partitions d, and when thus placed, gives the space o', lig. 2, over which the bees can travel, but cannot wax to the top side of the frames g g.

\Vhen the frames of one apartment Mare to be filled, false bottoms, n, are slipped in the bottonof the other apartments, which exclude the bees from such apartments. A l

If desirable, all the apartments can be lworked in by removing all the false bottoms In.

If but one frame7 or any number of frames less than the whole number, in any one apartment, is desired to be worked in, prohibiting-blocks or false frames g3, fig.

3, are to be inserted in such apartment', and the said false frames g3 so placed, would confine the work of the bees to the reduced number of frames for honey, as desired. i

The advantages of these improvements are these: First, the bees can be compelled to work-in the main body of the hive, or in any or all the frames in the surplus apartments.

Second, the bee-keeper can secure the best quality of honey in finished combs, by confining their work to a given number of frames, afs the season, or length of bloom of blossoms on which the bees would work, would suggest.

Third, the combs can bemade 4of any desirable form and size, as would be likely to snit the varied demands of consumers.

Having described my invention,

What I clzrim, and desire to secure by Letters Petent, is

1. The surplus honey-frame holder, constructed as described, being removable as set forth, and provided with one or more partitions, dividiw it into apart` ments, in combination with the comb-frames placed therein, substantially as set forth, and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with a surplus-h on ey-imme holder, constructed as above described, the solid bottoms n, as set forth, and for the purpose described.

3. The elements above set forth, in combination with aJ hive, A, as described.

GARRET J. FLANSBURGH.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM M. FEE, ALEXANDER SELKJLEK. 

